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Grade Requirements (Undergraduate)

Major and Minor Grade Requirements (revised Summer 2015)

Students must earn no lower than a “C“ in major required courses, track or concentration required courses, and required minor courses. Required allied courses listed within the major are not held to the “C“ or higher stipulation, unless specified by the department.

Major and Minor Grade Waiver (revised Summer 2015)

For those departments that will consider one grade below a letter grade of "C" to be waived within a major or minor, students have the right to request a grade waiver. A student may only be granted one grade waiver in each major and/or minor. Students will contact the Departmental Chair or Director for departmental procedures and policies to appeal an unacceptable letter grade. Once a decision has been rendered, the Department Chair or Director will notify the Registrar’s Office.

Grading System

The quality of work done by a student is indicated by the symbols, A, B, C, D, F, FN, P, U and S. An A indicates the highest standard of work; B indicates very good work; C indicates competent work; D indicates poor work; F or U indicates outright failure, and FN indicates outright failure due to non attendance or stopped attendance without an official withdrawal. Grades P or S indicate a letter grade of C or better. An I (Incomplete) is given at the end of a semester only when a student through no personal fault is unable to complete the course with the class. A student receiving an I is not eligible for the Dean’s List for that semester until the course is completed. At the close of each semester, a report of grades is available on-line to each student.

Grades earned for course(s) from which a student withdraws are as follows:

Dropping one or more course(s) but remaining in at least one course;

A grade of “W” is recorded for each course dropped on or before the last day to drop courses. A grade of “W” is not calculated into the GPA.

A grade of “WF” is recorded for each course dropped after the last day to drop courses. A grade of “WF” is calculated into the GPA.

Dropping all courses (withdrawing from the University);

A grade of “W” is recorded for each course when withdrawing from the University on or before the last day to drop courses. A grade of “W” is not calculated into the GPA.

A grade of “WF” is recorded for each course when withdrawing from the University after the last day to drop courses. A grade of “WF” is calculated into the GPA.

The “Last Day to Drop Courses” is published on the website.

If special circumstances warrant, circumstances beyond the control of the student, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost of the University may grant, upon request, permission to have the grade of “W” recorded in place of the grade of “WF”.

Repeat Course Grade (revised Summer 2015)

For a student who has earned a grade of C-, D, F or FN in a course and repeats the course, the cumulative point average will reflect the higher grade, although both grades will remain on the transcript. The course must be repeated for the same number of semester hours at Heidelberg University. A course repeated more than once will be treated as a separate course with no replacement of a previous grade unless the course is designed to be a repeatable course.

Incomplete Grade

The student and the instructor must sign an incomplete form prior to the grade being awarded. A student receiving an “I” must complete the work by the date stated on the incomplete form, which can be no later than one year from the date of recording.

Quality Points (revised Summer 2015)

Grades of AU, I, P, U, S and W do not calculate into the grade point average.

Point Average

The cumulative grade point average is derived by dividing the total number of graded hours for which a student has officially registered into the total number of quality points earned and truncating the resulting number after the second decimal place. The semester grade point average is calculated in the same way.

Audit

A student who wishes to attend a class but who does not wish to receive a grade of credit for the course may register as an auditor. A student must declare the auditor status in a course by the “Last Day to Add Classes.” This date is announced in the Schedule of Classes. The degree of class participation acceptable or required shall be determined between the student and instructor and listed on the audit form which is available in the Office of the Registrar. The completed audit form will remain on file in the Office of the Registrar. The class audited shall be noted on the transcript, and the instructor will award the grade of “AU” if students fulfill the performance requirements outlined on the audit form and the grade of “U” if students fail to meet these requirements. Students will not be eligible for “Credit by Examination” after having taken a class for audit credit.

Pass-Fail Courses (revised Summer 2015)

Juniors and seniors with a grade point average of 2.50, or better, are permitted to register for one elective course per semester on a Pass-Fail basis with the written approval of the department in which the course is taught. Any student with less than a 2.50 must obtain permission from his/her major Department Chair/Program Director and the Department Chair/Program Director where the elective is taught.

Credit earned as Pass-Fail, when the course is taught on a traditional grading scale of A-F, will not count towards the major or minor, the General Education Requirements, or Honors Seminars or Support Courses. A Pass-Fail arrangement is irrevocable; that is, the Pass-Fail may not be changed during the semester or at a later date to a letter grade. The Pass-Fail credit hours can be used to fulfill elective hours needed to meet the 120 credit hour graduation requirement.

Withdrawals will be handled according to the rules governing all courses (WF after the specified date). “Pass” should designate that the student did work comparable to C or better. “Fail” equates to a D or F. A student wishing to register for a Pass-Fail course must obtain a Pass-Fail Agreement form from the Registrar’s Office and submit it by the last day to add classes.

Grade Change Policy

Heidelberg University course grades are calculated and assigned by the instructor who teaches the course. Once a student’s final course grade has been officially recorded by the Registrar, the grade may be changed if, and only if, (1) a new grade has been determined under the Heidelberg University Student Grade Appeal Policy, or (2) a grade of Incomplete is replaced with a letter grade as specified in the current Heidelberg University undergraduate and graduate catalogs, or (3) the Provost of the University has assigned a lower grade in an academic honesty violation as specified in the “Heidelberg University Guidelines and Community Standards,” or (4) an error in computing or in recording the grade has been identified by the instructor and has been verified by the instructor, the Department Chair and the Provost of the University as specified in the Faculty Manual or (5) the Faculty has acted under the powers specified in the Faculty Manual. The complete Student Grade Appeal Policy can be found in the Student Handbook.